The Scent of a Woman on Felt

This past Sunday, my dear friend Alice, along with 16 others, was here for Sabbath dinner. After we ate a wonderful feast, had good fellowship, and a good bit of laughter, Alice wondered out to the front porch (my mini shop on the front of our house--that has no insulation, is all glass and where I freeze all winter, and get slow roasted all summer) to find my felted bracelets. She immediately took two of them. Alice has purchased several of my felt hats, scarves, vessels in the past, but the jewelry was quite a different thing. In the past, Alice and I have long talked about the joys of wearing felt, how the scent of the woman becomes a part of the fabric in a unique way, we think, maybe unlike other fabrics. We find this to be especially true in felt jewelry and felt hats. Alice, like me, does not like to coolness of metal jewelry. These felt bangles solve the problem of coolness next to the skin, provide some warmth, and hopefully, some pleasure to the wearer and the observer.

There are two 100% felt cuffs that were then beaded, then there are several that are felted beads strung together, and then there are the wooden bangles that are encased in felt. All have been great fun to make, the beading is getting more enjoyable ( now that I keep my cheaters close by) and so far, I think folks think they are kind of pretty.

Now to get ready for the Plainwell Art Hop.

http://renatos-veltinis.blogspot.com/

is a blog for bag gals to check out. really lovely stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shalom to you,
Suzanne

Bright Lights and Cheaters

Over the past few days I've been working on some felt vessels. I'll have more to show in the days to come. This one was created over a flat resist, using Lincoln-Teeswater cross, with some angora and merino added to the mix, along with hand dyed silk roving and silk fabric pieces (5mm) on the surface. It is so thick, so strong, it stands beautifully. I think I used 8 layers of roving to build up the strength and sturdiness and felted it really hard. In its final state, it measures 13x13.5 inches. After it was dry, out came the BRIGHT LIGHTS and CHEATERS! (Oh my, these eyes are getting old.) Doing the bead work was a challenge unto itself. It's something I usually do at night, and the lighting in our home is not great. The beading was fun, but challenging. I may still add some more things to this vessel, but for now, I'm giving my tired eyes a rest.

Everyone who has seen this piece thinks that it is a stone...exactly what I was hoping to achieve.